Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday announced that starting from 2 May, all government offices in the state will operate from 7:30am till 2pm. “I will also reach my office at 7.30 am," the Punjab CM said

At present, the office timings of the state government departments is 9 am to 5 pm “The Punjab government has decided that from May 2, all the government offices will open at 7.30 am and close at 2 pm," Mann said in a video message.The new office timing will remain in force till 15 July, he said. Mann said the decision was taken following discussions with many people, including state government employees. He further said the change in office timings during summer will ease the load on electricity demand.“Power utility Punjab State Power Corporation Limited has stated that peak load (of electricity) starts after 1.30 pm and if government offices are shut at 2 pm, then it will help in reducing peak load by 300 to 350 MW," the chief minister said. The state chief minister had on Friday stated that Punjab has cleared its entire electricity subsidy bill of ?20,200 crore for the last financial year and has witnessed a jump in excise and GST revenue. Mann, addressing the media here, said the state has registered a revenue of ?8,841 crore for the financial year 2022-23, up by 41.41 per cent when compared to 2021-22.

He claimed that Punjab's financial position was on the right track.He said it is for the first time that the entire subsidy bill of a particular fiscal year has been cleared during the year itself.

"In 2022-23, which is the first year when the Punjab government paid the entire subsidy bill of ?20,200 crore to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited. Not even a single penny was pending towards PSPCL," he said.